Extensible platforms for railway-cars.



E. H. SIGKELS. EXTENSIBLE PLATFORMS FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAILZS, 1914. 1,099,402. Patented June 9,1914,

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BXTBNSIBLE PLATFORMS FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 23, 1914.

1,099,402. Patented June 9,1914.

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' Ewe/(Z37? fl I z 500 ELLWOOD H. SIGKELS, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

EXTENSIBLE PLATFORMS FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1914.

Application filed March 23, 1914. Serial No. 826,569.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELLwoon H. SIoxnLs, acitizen of the United States, residing in the city of Philadelphia,county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Extensible Platforms for Railway-Cars;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to extensible platforms for railway cars, and hasfor its object to provide extensible parts associated with the car andoperated in the manner hereinafter described.

It is sometimes necessary to run a car of less than the standard width,such for instance as a subway car, on a right of way intended for carsof standard width and to stop such cars at stations primarily intendedfor the standard width cars. When the station platform is of theelevated type, t. a, one located at substantially the same level as thecar platforms, the car of less than standard width will not come into asclose proximity with the station platform as the car for which thestation platform was intended, and a gap will, therefore, result.

The present invention consists in providing means on the cars of lessthan the standard width to bridge such gap, and thereby insure the safeingress and egress of the passengers.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view showing the extensible parts andthe means for actuating the same; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of one ofthe car platforms shown in Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in which .theextensible part is actuated; Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on theline 8-3 of Fig. 4.; and Fig. 4 is a top plan view of one of the carplatforms with the floor of the platform removed to show the operatingmechanism for the extensible part.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character 1 designates, ineachinstance, an exit for the passengers or the platform of the car. Inthe present instance, the car illustrated is of that type having threeexits on either side, and the term platform, as used herein, is to beunderstood as meaning the center exits as well as those at the ends ofthe car.

The extensible part is indicated at 2 and is hingedly associated withthe platform of the car by means of the hinge or the like 3. Such anextensible part is hingedly associated with the car at each platform, asshown in Fig. 1. Means is provided for manually operating the extensibleparts, such means preferably being adapted to simultaneously actuate thethree extensible parts on one side of the car. This means, in thepresent instance, takes the following form. Under each platform,adjacent the extensible part 2, is a shelf-like support 1, preferablysecured at its outer two corners to the underface of the side sill 5 ofthe car, such as by means of brackets 6 and secured at its inner twocorners to the bottom of the car platform by means of the longerbrackets 7. Each shelf-like support 4 constitutes a bearing and also asupport for a bell-crank lever 8, which is provided with a shortdepending portion 9 at the junction of the two arms of the bell-cranklever, said portion 9 beingjournaled in a suitable bearing boss 10,provided on the shelf-like support f. The bell-crank lovers are,therefore, mounted on the supports 4 for turning movements in ahorizontal plane about the portion 9 as an axls.

The outer arm 8' of each bell-crank lever is connected by means of alink 11 to the under side of the extensible part 2, as clearly shown inFig. 2, the link 11 being connected to the extensible part 2 andconnected to the arm 8 of the bell-crank lever, preferably by means ofball and socket joints 12.

The inner arms 8" of the three bell-crank levers, on each side of thecar, are connected by links 13, whereby all three of the bellcranklevers may be actuated simultaneously, (Figs. 1 and 4;).

An actuating handle 14: is provided at each end of the car, which isoperable by the conductor to simultaneously actuate the three extensibleparts on one side of the car. For this purpose, thehandle 14 isconnected to a vertical rod 15 passing through a suitable supportingpost 16, on the upper end of which the handle 14 is mounted. The lowerend of the rod 15 is bent at right angles, as shown at 17 in Fig. 3,such bent portion assuming the position shown in Fig. 4, when the parts2 are in their extended position. Links 18 are pivoted to the extremityof the bent portion 17, as shown at 19 in Fig. 8, and also to theextremity of the arm 8 of the adjacent bell-crank lever 8 at the pointwhere it connects with the link 13. The handle 14 may be locked againstrotation by means of the catch device 20, the longitudinally movableelement 21 of which is adapted to engage in any one of a series ofperforations provided in the post 16. When the handle 14 is gripped toactuate the same, the part 22 is lifted to shift the member 21longitudinally, and thereby unlock the handle from the post 16. Theformer may, therefore, be turned with respect to the latter to actuatethe extensible parts 2.

The handle 14, when turned from. the position indicated in Fig. 4,through 180, causes the extremity 17 of the rod 15 to turn through 180,and thereby shift the links 18 and 13 longitudinally, and this willresult in a turning of the bell-crank levers 8 about their axes 9 to theposition represented by dotted lines shown in Fig. 4. The links 11connecting the arms 8 of the bell-crank revers with the extensible parts2, will also be moved inwardly to thereby lower the extensible parts 2until they assume the substantially vertical position, as indicated bythe dotted lines in Fig. 2. The actuation of the handle 14, in theopposite direction, causes the reverse operation, and the extensibleparts 2 are shifted to their extended positions, the handle 14 thenbeing locked in position As the three bell-crank levers on each side ofthe car are interconnected by means of the links 13, it is obvious thatthe three bellcrank levers will be simultaneously shifted, and that theturning of the handle 14 through 180 will simultaneously raise or lowerthe three extensible parts provided at that side of the car at which thehandle 14 is located.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a carprovided with three exits on each side, it is obvious that the inventionis equally applicable to cars having exits only at either end, or, onthe other hand, to cars having any number of exits.

When the car stops at a station platform located at the same level asthe platforms of the car, and when primarily intended for cars of thestandard width hereinbefore referred to, the proper actuating handle 14is actuated to raise the extensible parts 2 to bridge the gap betweenthe car and station platforms.

What I claim is 1. In a railway car, the combination of a plurality ofextensible parts associated with each side of the car and mounted toswing about horizontal axes, and manually operable mechanicalconnections adapted to simultaneously actuate all of the extensibleparts onone side of the car.

2. In a railway car, the combination of a plurality of hinged extensibleparts associated with each side of the car, connections between all ofthe extensibleparts on one side of the car comprising interconnectedbell-crank levers each connected with one of the extensible parts, andmeans to actuate said connections to simultaneously operate all of theextensible parts on one side of the car.

3. In a railway car, the combination of a plurality of hinged extensibleparts associated with each side of the car, connections between all ofthe extensible parts on one side of the car comprising interconnectedbell-crank levers each connected with one of the extensible parts, andmeans at one end of the car to actuate said connections tosimultaneously operate all of the extensible parts on one'side of thecar.

4. In a railway car, the combination of a plurality of hinged extensibleparts associated with each side of the car, connections between all ofthe extensible parts on one side of the car comprising interconnectedbell-crank levers each connected with one of the extensible parts, andmeans comprising an actuating handle located at one end of the car toactuate said connections to simultaneously operate all of the extensibleparts on one side of the car.

5. In a railway car, the combination of an extensible part hingedlyassociated with the car, a bell-crank lever to operate said .extensiblepart, a connection between said bell crank lever and the extensiblepart, and means to actuate the bellcrank lever comprising an actuatinglever comprising an actuating element mounted to turn about a fixedaxis, and connections between said element and said bell-crank leverwhereby the turning movements of the former actuate the latter.

6. The combination with a car having three exits on each side thereof,of hinged extensions for said exits mounted to swing about horizontalaxes,.and means for simultaneously actuating the three extensions on oneside of the car.

7. The combination with a'car having three exits on each side thereof,of hinged extensions for said exits mounted to swing about horizontalaxes, and manually operable mechanical connections adapted tosimultaneously actuate the three extensions on one side of the car.

8. The combination with a car having three exits on'each side thereof,of hinged extensions for said exits mounted to swing In testimonywhereof I affix my signature, about horizontal axes, mechamcal connecinpresence of two Witnesses.

tions between the three extensions on one side of the car forsimultaneously operating ELLWOOD SICKELS' the same, and manuallyoperable means 10- Witnesses:

cateol at one end of the car for actuating said H. A. BRIGHTON,

connections. W. B. MommLL.

Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

